Infection Control Basics | Infection Control (2023)

FAQs

What are the 5 basic principles for infection control? ›

Standard precautions consist of the following practices: hand hygiene before and after all patient contact. the use of personal protective equipment, which may include gloves, impermeable gowns, plastic aprons, masks, face shields and eye protection. the safe use and disposal of sharps.

Break the chain by cleaning your hands frequently, staying up to date on your vaccines (including the flu shot), covering coughs and sneezes and staying home when sick, following the rules for standard and contact isolation, using personal protective equipment the right way, cleaning and disinfecting the environment, ...

Infection control standard, contact, droplet and airborne precautions.

Strategies include hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, cleaning, and appropriate handling and disposal of sharps. These are a first-line approach to infection prevention and control in health service organisations and are routinely applied as an essential strategy for minimising the spread of infections.

The first step in infection control is hand hygiene.

Infectious diseases can be viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections. There's also a rare group of infectious diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).

Infection control prevents or stops the spread of infections in healthcare settings. This site includes an overview of how infections spread, ways to prevent the spread of infections, and more detailed recommendations by type of healthcare setting.

The mode of transmission can include direct contact, droplets, a vector such as a mosquito, a vehicle such as food, or the airborne route.

What are the 6 chains of infection? ›

The 6 points include: the infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, means of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host. The way to stop germs from spreading is by interrupting the chain at any link.

Use soap and water or an alcoholbased hand rub to clean your hands. It only takes 15 seconds to practice hand hygiene. to practice hand hygiene. Your doctors and nurses should practice hand hygiene every time they enter your room.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) to carry out Standard Precautions includes: gowns, masks, eye protection, face shield (if splashes or sprays of blood or body fluids is likely).

Importance of hand hygiene

Proper hand hygiene is the single most important, simplest, and least expensive means of reducing the prevalence of HAIs and the spread of antimicrobial resistance^{1–3,20–23}.

The stages of infection are incubation, prodromal, illness, stage of decline, and convalescence.

What are the 3 phases of infection process? ›

The different phases in infections include: Infective period. Communicability period. Incubation period.

Microbial diversity is truly staggering, yet all these microbes can be grouped into five major types: Viruses, Bacteria, Archaea, Fungi, and Protists.

The world's deadliest infections, including Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV/AIDS, have been considered as the "Big Three" infectious diseases (BTIDs).

The chain of infection is the process by which a pathogen spreads from one host to the next. This process has six steps: Infectious pathogen, reservoir, the portal of exit, means of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host. The infectious pathogen is the actual virus or bacteria that is being spread.

Break the chain by cleaning your hands frequently, staying up to date on your vaccines (including the flu shot), covering coughs and sneezes and staying home when sick, following the rules for standard and contact isolation, using personal protective equipment the right way, cleaning and disinfecting the environment, ...

The main routes that infection enters the body are through the air, through touch, through bodily fluids, through ingestion or through bites from other living creatures.

Inhalation (via the respiratory tract) Absorption (via mucous membranes such as the eyes) Ingestion (via the gastrointestinal tract)

Direct contact spread

Some infections can be spread by direct contact with the infected area to another person's body, or via contact with a contaminated surface. This is the most common route of cross-infection from one person to another (transmission of infection).

Direct contact transmission occurs when there is physical contact between an infected person and a susceptible person. Indirect contact transmission occurs when there is no direct human-to-human contact.

Who is most at risk of infection? ›

Older adults are at highest risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. More than 81% of COVID-19 deaths occur in people over age 65. The number of deaths among people over age 65 is 97 times higher than the number of deaths among people ages 18-29 years.

Proper use of personal protective equipment (e.g., gloves, masks, gowns), aseptic technique, hand hygiene, and environmental infection control measures are primary methods to protect the patient from transmission of microorganisms from another patient and from the health care worker.

Standard Precautions for All Patient Care

Execute hand hygiene. Make use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when exposure to infection is possible. Observe respiratory hygiene (cough etiquette) Practice proper patient placement.

Medical asepsis (clean technique) all practices that reduce the dumber, growth, transfer and spread of pathogenic microorganisms. They include hand washing, bathing, cleaning environment, gloving, gowning, wearing mask, hair and shoe covers, disinfecting articles and use of antiseptics.

Wash hands after using the bathroom and changing diapers, and before handling or eating any food. Make sure that persons with diarrhea, especially children, wash their hands carefully and frequently with soap to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

In healthcare settings, pathogenic microorganisms are acquired mainly through contact, droplet or airborne transmission (Table A. Modes of transmission). Contact is a common mode of transmission in health care, usually via touch or contact with blood or body substances.

The portals of entry are mucosal, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and cutaneous.

For example, nose and throat discharges can exit a human carrier when they sneeze. Other examples of exit portals are blood, saliva, feces, and so on. This link can be broken by avoiding coughing and sneezing into the hands or onto surfaces, but to the elbow instead.

The links in the chain of infection include Infectious Agent, Reservoir, Portal of Exit, Mode of Transmission, Portal of Entry, and Susceptible Host: Infectious Agent : Microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, that can cause infectious disease.

What is the most important means of breaking the chain of infection? ›

Hand washing thoroughly with soap and water is one of the best ways to prevent you or someone you know from getting infected. Washing your hands frequently helps to remove potentially harmful microorganisms from your hands which helps stop the spread of infection.

Break the chain by cleaning your hands frequently, staying up to date on your vaccines (including the flu shot), covering coughs and sneezes and staying home when sick, following the rules for standard and contact isolation, using personal protective equipment the right way, cleaning and disinfecting the environment, ...

Sterile fields must always be kept in sight to be considered sterile. Sterile fields must always be kept in sight throughout entire sterile procedure. Never turn your back on the sterile field as sterility cannot be guaranteed.

According to The Joint Commission, there are four chief aspects of the aseptic technique: barriers, patient equipment and preparation, environmental controls, and contact guidelines. Each plays an important role in infection prevention during a medical procedure.

Personal protective equipment includes but is not limited to laboratory coats or gowns, disposable gloves, and safety glasses. Face shields may be recommended based on risk assessment.

Antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, and ceftriaxone are sometimes needed to treat patients with severe Salmonella infections.

Salmonella can get on the shells of eggs. This can happen when birds lay the eggs and when eggs touch bird droppings (poop) after being laid. Touching eggs from the grocery store is not a major cause of illness because those eggs are washed before they reach stores. Salmonella can get inside eggs too.